By P. L. Ryan
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Customer tags: history(84), politics(83), news media(81), bigotry(30), martin luther king(26), fbi(23), conspiracy theories(22), corruption(21), kennedy assassination(21), kkk(18), racism(3), political corruption(3)
Review & Description
This book spins the story of the FBI career of William Saucier, known as "the Grey Ghost," "the Sauce," and "the Bay City Strangler" in his identity as one of the Boys of Birmingham. That's what the northern, Irish Catholic membership of the FBI office in Birmingham, Alabama was called during the 1960s. The book tells how P. L. Ryan, the daughter of Saucier, and her family had to weather the hot climate and bigoted hostilities of the area, including attacks by the Ku Klux Klan. But the Boys managed to "spook" the Klan back, as the book recalls many humorous stories about how their FBI work managed to disintegrate the local KKK. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had created the Boys of Birmingham based on comments Dr. King made concerning how the FBI had no black agents, and that the southern FBI was "sympathetic" to racism. Hoover answered King's complaint by sending northern federal agents down into Birmingham whenever they committed a minor infraction. Becoming one of the "Boys" was actually considered to be a form of punishment, sending an agent down into "the Pits of Hell." But all the Boys eventually developed lifelong friendships as the result of this "punishment," with their families becoming very close. The Boys also were ordered to investigate Dr. King during his stays in Birmingham, becoming his "shadows" and being involved in the infamous Hoover tapes of King's "indiscretions." New information about these is told in this book for the first time, as also new information is given concerning the assassination investigation. The book tells how Saucier, as the lead field agent in charge of the Birmingham investigation, and the other Boys locate the identity of James Earl Ray, King's killer. And Saucier himself is the agent who discovers a way to directly locate Ray, which swiftly results in his arrest. Thrilling, gripping and hilarious at times, this book covers the exploits of Saucier and his fellow agents, including one man, the Dallas Duplicator, who's heavily involved in President Kennedy's assassination. He may have been the infamous "blond man" who picked up the fifth bullet in Dealey Plaza, site of the Kennedy murder and source of the gunfire. This agent was the same one who arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy's presumed killer, and this book may also bring some new information concerning that investigation to light. Read more
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